Huntik: Split
by Artemis Hunter 441
Summary: Alyna Casterwill has a deeply buried secret that only few people know. But now... is knocking on her front door.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: New Seeker**_

* * *

Alyna Vale was very much used to the thrill of Seeker life, especially since she'd been in a relationship with Dante. Everywhere that guy went, the Organization seemed to follow.

Never though had she expected to see Suits in the streets of Venice chasing a couple teenagers, letting normal citizens see their Titans and their powers.

_"Solwing, defend!" _she quickly called.

The Krono amulet was around her neck and on the light green undershirt, since it had been a wedding gift from her husband. She might never have the same bond with her Solwing as Dante had with his, but at least she had an extra ally.

The Suits and their Redcap and Mindrone were easily distracted by the triple winged bird, Alyna's perfect chance to call out a warrior titan, which was in the little pocket on her leather belt that held her black pants up.

"Bring it on, _Iron Monkey_!"

The Yama-titan warrior emerged from his amulet, immediately attacking the two titans.

Alyna went up to the teenagers. "We'd better get out of here, quickly!" and she dragged the two with her, Solwing following them up in the air far enough so people would think it was a normal bird.

"How are we supposed to know you're not with those people?" the boy asked.

"Run now, ask questions later." she told him, tugging him further along.

Luckily, they weren't far from her home, so they could possibly get there without much resistance from those suits.

The streets of Venice were like a labyrinth sometimes, if you didn't know how to navigate through them. Alyna had lived in the city for 4 years now, and it still was a puzzle, but not as hard as a puzzle as it would be for those suits to find them now.

* * *

They quickly arrived at the plaza that held the Vale residence, which was a three-story Seeker warded house. The Suits wouldn't be able to get in the house or damage it in any way, but their neighbors wouldn't be so lucky.

"Okay, I'm confused now. Why do people want this diary?" the boy, named Lok Lambert, asked.

"The front cover has on it what their leader wants." Alyna explained as she removed her blood red jacket to hang it over a chair. "It's the Ancient amulet of Will, it would control Titans with even the most powerful bond to a Seeker. But to do so, you would have to collect three Legendary Titans. Body, Mind and Soul, and the Professor wants that power."

"Well, that explains why he was after my dad. He knew the information they needed." Lok stated.

Mrs. Vale nodded. "That's right. He probably disappeared to keep it hidden from the wrong hands. And it seems your father trusts you to complete his work."

"Keep the info in the right hands?"

"That, as well as finding those Legendary Titans."

The blonde-haired boy looked down at the brown cover. "My mom would never let me."

"Maybe not right now, but there will come a time that she'll have to let you." Alyna told. "You're one of us now, and Seekers on the same side look out for each other."

Lok smiled at that; it was something he could believe in.

The woman sat down beside him. "Dante and I can teach you what you need to know to become a Seeker, but the rest will be up to you."

* * *

Sophie thought something was off about the woman who'd brought them to Dante Vale's home. Who was she to the World's Most Famous Seeker? She knew Dante had hazel eyes and brown hair from the pictures the Foundation had given her, as well as specific facial features, and this woman had none of those. Her hair was auburn, and her eyes were emerald green, almost a venom like color. Thus, she was for certainly not his sister. Maybe a friend? A Seeker partner? Though she would've heard about a partner.

The Casterwill heir decided to take a little tour around the house and asked for a bathroom would she need one. What she encountered were a lot of ancient artifacts from many places in the world, and several pictures as well as post cards. Sophie picked one up that was from South Africa.

* * *

_Dante,_

_As you see, I'm on a mission in South Africa. I'm in Johannesburg to be exact, trying to deal with some vigilante Seekers that decided to battle things out on the streets between the mundane people. So far, nothing has come of it, but Teien seems to be certain that something can be done._

_South Africa could be great, if there weren't such a high crime rate. Basically, the poor have nothing, can't even climb the social ladder without sponsorship or anything. I really feel for these kids who have nothing. I think of giving some kids a sponsorship with the money my dad left me upon his death._

_I really miss you Dante, missions just aren't the same without you, even when Teien or Metz are with me. I wished I could come home already and just be with you in Venice_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Alyna_

* * *

Then, Sophie saw a photo of both Dante and the woman. The woman, Alyna, was wearing a beautiful long white gown, only a little bit of sparkle on the top half of the dress, formfitting but wide enough to be able to properly walk. Dante himself was in a black suit, with a white rose on the left side of his chest. There were golden rings around their fingers, and they were smiling happily.

Though she was only 16, Sophie knew what it meant. The two of them were a married couple.

"I see you found that photo."

The Casterwill heir spun around, finding Mrs. Vale standing in the doorway with a soft smile. "I… uh…"

"Don't worry about it. Though I hope you won't be telling the entire Seeker community about it."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "You haven't told people you're married?"

Alyna shook her head. "Not everyone knows, only people within the Foundation we truly trust. It's not really a secret that Dante is one of the most powerful Seekers around, and if any spy the Organization might have within the Foundation knew Dante and I were married, I'll be a number 1 target. Just to hurt Dante, you know."

The strawberry blonde could understand the logic in that, anyone close would be hurt just to hurt the one they're close to. "I understand. Does Lok know?"

"He'll find it out on his own, he's a smart kid. He already solved a puzzle I've been working on for months!"

Sophie giggled. Yeah, her classmate was smart, he just didn't use it in school.

The green-eyed woman looked out of the window. "Well, Dante's gonna have to fight through to get home."

"How so?"

"Just come and look." Alyna said.

The blonde woman took a few strides closer to the window to look outside.

Suits. At least a dozen of them, on the plaza.

"Who are those two that aren't in black suits? Are they Organization too?"

"Definitely. They just have a higher rank than a simple minion. They're more powerful, and thus more useful to the Professor."

Sophie looked at the older woman. "Dealt with them before?"

Mrs. Vale simply nodded. "You see that tall stock blonde man in military grab? That's Commander Grier, he's ex-army and from somewhere in Greece. I once encountered him and his Meso-Titan Breaker in Strasbourg three months ago while searching for clues about ancient Seekers. He's got a good type of discipline and doesn't easily give up in the eye of defeat, he's a good opponent, honorable too. The other guy not in a suit, he's a different case."

"How so?"

"It's just… I've seen him before, before he became Organization. I just don't remember where and when. Maybe if I encounter him alone one day, I could figure it out."

"Does Dante know?"

"Oh, I told him months ago, after the first encounter. He says I'm seeing things, but I know my gut feeling about people is often pretty right."

The blonde looked at the man a second time. "What do you think it is?"

"I have multiple suspicions. For example, he could be a Foundation spy who's been presumed dead for a couple years, maybe I saw him before he became a Seeker? Anything's possible. They also pluck homeless Seeker kids from the streets before we can, that's one of the reasons it's grown so fast." Alyna told. "Brainwashing, it's stupid."

Sophie had to agree with the woman. "So… how long have you and Dante been married?" she asked as they walked away from the window.

"Just two years, but we had been in a relationship for 4 years before that, and we were friends since we were kids. It's basically how most Seeker couples meet."

That's when they saw a flash of a raypulse pass the window.

Both females spun around and the oldest of them ran to the window.

"Dante's home, and he's not happy with the visitors we've got."

The Casterwill heir came closer again. She'd never seen an actual Seeker fight, neither Santiago nor LeBlanche would let her join the Foundation. It was something she wanted to do, for her parents.

Alyna grabbed Sophie's shoulder. "We'd better get to the roof and get out of here. We've got to find a place safer than this."

"Isn't the house protected?" Sophie than asked.

"Our house is, but not that of the neighbors."

"Well, we could go to my place. My family has a house here in Venice."

The green-eyed woman nodded. "That's good enough for me. Lok, Cherit, we've got to get out of here."

The strawberry blonde raised an eyebrow. "Who's Cherit?"

"I'm Cherit." a scruffy high-pitched voice said.

She turned, only to find a small, white flying Titan. And it was talking.

"I really haven't seen this before."

Alyna smiled. "Cherit's pretty unique, he's one of those few Titans that don't have an amulet. They're mostly independent Titans who judge your character to their own nature and thus if you're worthy of their companionship. Cherit found Dante to be worthy enough."

"You called?" Lok asked, peeking his head around the corner.

"We're leaving through the roof." the older woman told. "Sophie, take Lok and Cherit with you. I'll follow you behind on some distance."

"Seems like a plan." the blonde boy said.

But before they went to the roof, Alyna took something from a drawer. "Before you go, I wish to give you this. Dante already has one like these, and it won't bond with me, maybe you have better luck."

And as soon as it touched Lok's palm, a white light shone from the amulet, and he was getting flashes through his head.

When the light died, Sophie was staring in awe, and Alyna was smiling.

"What was that?" the blonde asked.

"A precaution. That Titan's name is Freelancer, he'll protect you in times of need."

* * *

Dante really disliked the Organization, and somehow, they had found out where he lived. He hoped they hadn't found out about his wife.

Defoe was a cunning individual and playing pretty much unfair.

Alyna had been right about Grier, he was indeed a fairer player than the usual Organization commanders.

As he was fighting the Suits, he noticed his wife on the roof, rushing a pair of teens away. The boy didn't really seem to know what the hell he was doing, thus he was most likely a newly found Seeker. No wonder the Organization was here, his wife had most likely rescued him.

Then, she whistled, gaining the attention of Grier and Defoe.

"Hey losers!" she called, waving with a book that looked pretty ancient and used. "If you want it, come and get it!"

"Catch her!" Defoe ordered.

About half a dozen of Suits went after her as soon as she took off.

Dante took his chance, breaking through the defense of the suits he himself was fighting, sending several spells at them as they were partially distracted. He'd take care of the teenagers, keep them safe as much as he needed to.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Casterwill Family**_

* * *

In the end, the teenagers got surrounded with suits and their Titans.

Dante saw this unfold as he was still standing on the roof of one of the houses.

"They just keep coming!" the boy called out as both of them were out of breath. Even the Suits were more experienced then both of the teens together.

"Guess I can only do one thing now. _Fight with me, Sabriel!_"

A female warrior Titan in pinkish and purple tones appeared from the amulet, with a golden saber.

'Appropriate name for the Titan, I guess.' the 24-year-old thought as he saw the fight unfold.

The girl seemed to have a small level of experience, while the boy had none. He was most likely to only just have found out about his powers.

_"Keep them safe, Caliban!"_

The Meso warrior he'd called, long sleek white hair & brown and grey armor, jumped down into the fight, making sure the boy was protected.

With Caliban now into the fight, it was easy to at least defeat the two Redcap Titans. Two against two was way fairer than two against one, even if that one was a stronger Titan.

The blonde boy looked up to where the Titan had come from, and saw Dante standing on the rooftop.

Cherit was with him, as Dante saw when he jumped down.

"Who're you?" the kid asked.

"Dante Vale, I saw you met Alyna already."

"She kinda saved us some problems by chasing some of those guys away. Guess I'll have to thank her when we're at Sophie's house. We promised to meet up there."

The brunet nodded. He'd knew his wife would get there, one way or another.

Suddenly, a Suit fell from a roof, lading on their back. Next fell a Mindrone, disappeared into red mist, as did a third Redcap.

This was all only moments before the two Suits Sophie was fighting got hit with a sickly green spell that knocked them out immediately.

Their eyes looked up, finding Alyna coming down from the roof, silver lining surrounding her feet, making sure she landed softly onto the concrete below.

"That escalated quickly." Lok said. "Thanks for the help."

"No worries. We should go, and fast, before some more Suits follow us."

* * *

As they went to the girl's, Sophie's home, Dante got a look at the boy's father's diary that held secrets that could lead to Legendary Titans and the Amulet of Will.

The kid himself was Lok Lambert, son of Eathon Lambert, a Seeker who disappeared a decade ago.

Suits had most likely surrounded his dorm room by now, searching for any clue that could lead to the diary.

The Professor wanted it, of that Dante was sure. The Amulet of Will could give the guy unlimited power.

Sophie's home itself was grand, more like a mansion than a normal house.

"You live here?" Lok asked as the four of them plus Cherit walked through the doors. "It's huge!"

"I am the heir to the Casterwill family fortune, I'm therefor expected to live up to certain standards." The strawberry blonde replied. "A dorm room doesn't exactly cut it."

At that moment, a sharply dressed somewhat older man entered. "Right this way, young masters, miss."

"This is my attendant LeBlanche. He'll show you to the tea room."

"Fancy!" Cherit exclaimed.

As they were walking, Dante whispered. "Did you not tell her you're a Casterwill as well?"

"Not yet." Alyna replied. "But Sophie already knows we're married, she saw our wedding photo."

The 24-year-old wasn't very happy about that, but at least it wasn't some stranger who could end up doing harm to their life, a Casterwill was a Casterwill, they _were_ family.

As they were seated, and Lok was looking at some of the paintings on the wall, the green-eyed woman started speaking: "Lok, have you been able to think about what I've told you?"

Lok looked down at the Titan in his hand, it was a Gaia-Titan from what Dante could instantly see. "I don't think there's much logic in running, is there? These Suits will just keep coming interfering with any sort of normal life. So… I guess I'll have to take you up on your offer."

Dante's eyebrow rose. "What did you offer him?"

"To teach him. Well, me and you." his wife said. "You're the best at field work, I'll teach him the ins and outs of the Archive and to rely on certain instincts."

"It's possible to do so, but we're not exactly well on the money to take care of an extra person. And Seeker life is not exactly cheap." he argued.

Green eyes stared dead at him. "Money won't be problem."

An eyebrow went up. "How can you be so certain?"

Alyna smiled. "You forget again, I'm also a Casterwill. A different House than Sophie might be, but there's still enough money. And I'm sure Metz will be willing to help out, he's always willing to help the Seekers who take in youngsters to train."

"You're also a Casterwill?" Sophie had suddenly just popped up, staring in shock at the other woman in the room.

"It is my maiden name, yes." the green-eyed woman replied. "I'm from the Casterwill House of Strategists, one out of four still existing Casterwill Houses. The others are the House of Knowledge, the House of Nobles and the House of Blade Makers."

"And… do you know of which House I could be?" the strawberry blonde asked.

"Hard to say by just looking at you. But maybe if you know your parents' names or where you grew up, I could go into the archives."

Sophie was smiling from ear to ear, only seconds later she erupted in tears and hugged Alyna tightly.

Alyna just let her cry her tears, hearing muffled 'thank you's.

Dante smiled at the scene. At least the girl could learn more about her family, as well as its secrets and legends. His gaze turned to the boy, who was also smiling, he was happy for Sophie to have found a fellow Casterwill.

* * *

In the far corner, LeBlanche was watching the scene with awe in his eyes.

Little Sophie had found a fellow Casterwill, someone who would be able to teach her more about Seeker life, as well as other members of her family.

The woman herself seemed to carry herself with grace of nobility and was a strong Seeker from what he'd heard from the Foundation. There were several powerful Titans in her arsenal, and she was just as book smart as Sophie was. They'd do good together.

* * *

After their school the next day, and a horrible history test, Dante brought the two teens to the library, where his wife had already started with searching for information. Both she and Sophie would look for things mentioned in the diary, while he himself would start training Lok.

"A Seeker's power source, is the strength of will dwelling in his heart and mind." Cherit said.

"It lets you use powers and invoke Titans." Dante added.

Cherit then picked a book from a shelf. "When you touched your father's amulet yesterday, it triggered your Seeker powers."

Lok took the amulet from his pocket. "It's not doing much today though. You don't think I broke it, do you?"

"That amulet's tricky for a beginner. The effects you felt yesterday was most likely due to a jumpstart." The brunet said, picking a second book from another shelf on the other side of the room where Lok was standing.

Then Cherit said: "Maybe if you master the basics, Dante will let you give that amulet a go."

That seemed to encourage Lok. "Okay, let's do this!"

"The key to powers is controlling them on command." he said calmly. "Like this. Watch me."

He lifted his right hand into the air. "_Boltflare_!"

An orange-yellow light appeared in his hand.

"Now you try."

The blonde tried, but nothing much came of it. He sighed in defeat.

Dante scratched himself in his hair. "Strange. Even a Seeker half your age should be able to conjure a candle light."

"What it takes is hard work and study, which is not Lok's strongest point."

As soon as Sophie made that comment, Alyna gave her a stern look. "We don't talk down to other people. Some are just better at studying; others are better at learning it in practical situations." then she turned to Lok. "Do you still have the amulet I gave you yesterday?"

"Yeah, it was a Freelancer, right?" the boy took it from his pocket and took a better look at it. "Yeah… _Come on Freelancer_!"

After a single second, the amulet started glowing yellowish, and brightly so.

Sophie was staring in shock, while Alyna and Dante were looking at him with pride.

The Titan appeared right on the railing of the upper floor, where the two women were sitting. It turned and jumped down, standing right in front of Lok.

"He's asking me what I want."

"That's called the Bond. Titans don't usually talk, Cherit here being the exception. It's how Seeker and Titan communicate." Dante explained as the two women came down the stairs to the first floor. "Have you two found anything?"

"The journal mentions something about the amulet sleeping with the Golem. Thus, we're searching for a book that contains the Legend of the Golem of Prague." Alyna replied.

"Wait! I think I know where that book is!" Sophie said and ran back upstairs.

"Well, there's a reason Prague is called the city of Mysteries among Seekers." the brunet said. "It's a dangerous place to begin a treasure hunt like the one we're on."

This got Lok excited. "Does this mean we'll be going to Prague?"

"Probably. How do you feel about it?" Dante looked at his wife.

The auburn-haired woman thought for a moment. "It's dangerous, yes, but Seekers don't back away from danger so easily. It could also be a good training for the two of them, practice does make perfect."

"No!" a voice suddenly yelled, turning their attention to a man dressed in Asian style grey robes with a long braid of brown hair and a patch on his forehead. He had a long stick behind his back. "Prague is too dangerous; my Lady will not go!"

"You must be Santiago, Sophie's bodyguard." Dante said.

"I took an oath to keep Sophie safe, but in such a city, even I won't be able to protect her. I will not let you recklessly endanger her life!" and he pointed with his finger at Mr. Vale.

"You've got to take that up with her, but she doesn't strike me as the type to easily change her mind."

"This is between me and you." The bodyguard interrupted, swinging the bamboo staff. "and there's only one way to know what you're made off."

Alyna pulled Lok backwards, Cherit on Lok's shoulder.

"If you wanna dance, I can show you some steps." as he said so, the brunet grabbed the stick of the cleaning broom to use it as a fighting staff.

The auburn-haired woman knew that her husband would most likely win this duel, seeing as Dante always had some sort of tricks on his sleeve. She turned to Lok. "I'm going to help Sophie finding that book, the faster we find it, the faster we can get out of here." And she too ran back up the stairs.

"What's going on downstairs?" Sophie asked, she too hearing the clattering of sticks.

"Just your bodyguard thinking you can't make a proper decision, nothing else." Alyna replied.

Sophie's green eyes widened in horror. "Oh no!"

"Don't worry." the older woman told her. "Dante's got it under control, I'm confident he'll use one of his back up tricks to gain some sort of upper hand. He's not gonna cripple Santiago if that's what you think."

"It's just that I said something stupid this morning." the strawberry blonde said. "It's just that I find Dante to be… attractively secretive."

Alyna just smiled.

"You're not angry?"

"Why would I be? You're hardly the only young Seeker who's got a crush on my husband. It's more or less flattering that my choice of partner is so wanted, because I know he'll always come back to me."

"You're pretty sure of that." Sophie commented.

The auburn-haired Seeker shrugged. "It's just the way Dante is, incredibly loyal when he commits. Especially now we're trying for a child of our own."

"That would actually be cute." there was a little pause. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. We just gotta find that book before the Organization gets here. We don't have much time left."

* * *

Alyna had been right, they had less than two hours before sundown, the usual time for the Organization to strike. Though it wouldn't really surprise her if they'd come earlier. As long as the streets were empty enough to not leave any witnesses.

It was when they found a reference to the Seeker Jodis Lore that the Organization stormed in.

It was Defoe again, with Grier, and about three dozen Suits, if not more.

"Great, there they are already." the older woman turned to the teenager. "Search quick, we'll take care of these." and both older Seekers jumped down to end up in the middle.

Mindrones and Redcaps were invoked.

Dante invoked Caliban, the Titan he most often fought with.

Then, Santiago joined the fight, getting some suits out of the way.

"Thanks for covering me." Dante said.

"I still don't trust you." the bodyguard said.

Alyna didn't pay the Suits much attention, but appreciated Lok taking care of them with buckets. It was when Grier invoked Breaker and Defoe Kreutalk, that she too invoked a Titan or two.

_"Fight for what is right, Wolf Knight!"_ and the blue furred wolf in red armor with spikes appeared before them in a pinkish light, standing protective with its Seeker.

_"Effulge them in fire and ash, Kerosan!"_ and in a red fire-like light, the Asian female warrior with red skin in a white kimono adorned with flames and a pair of samurai swords appeared.

Kerosan fought the lesser Titans, two attacks were enough to send them back to their amulets. And together with Shinobi, Santiago's Titan, they easily took out Defoe's Kreutalk before any acid attack could take place.

The library was somewhat of a mess due to the Seeker fight, but the Huntik Foundation would most likely pay Venice for any damages the fight would cost in the end.

* * *

Upstairs, Sophie was still going through the books. She knew she had to be fast, the Organization was closing in on her, quite literally.

Suddenly, a Wolf Knight appeared in front of them, howling at the two intruders and their Redcaps.

This type of Titans was pretty Seeker specific, Organization Seekers would never be able to control a Wolf Knight, as they were honorable fighters.

"Uhm… are you done already?" Lok asked as he was being cornered. "We can't hold them off the whole night!"

"Just one more minute!" she called.

Then, the wolf jumped in front of Lok, cutting both Redcaps in the abdominal area, causing their legs and upper halves to split.

"Well, that was a good save." the blonde remarked before hearing a scream. He turned around to see a Suit standing in front of Sophie, ready to strike.

As soon as the guy said '_raypulse_' to wound Sophie, Kerosan jumped in front to get the hit, sending her back to her amulet.

Caliban soon just punched the guy in the face from the side.

Alyna had quickly ran up the stairs. "We've got to get going, immediately." then she looked down, before looking at Caliban. "Can you throw some book cases down and hit some suits for a distraction?"

The grey Titan gave a curt nod before doing so.

"Uh… why does Caliban act upon your orders if he's Dante's Titan?"

"I explain later, but we need to leave immediately."

They did leave the library unharmed, but Sophie lost one of the books on their way out. Defoe most likely would've picked it up to see what they'd found, but it didn't matter anymore at that moment, what mattered is that they got out without much of a scratch!

* * *

As decided before, they were going to fly to Prague. From Marco Polo Airport, to be exact. Sophie was buying their tickets, as she and Alyna had agreed to split the costs. First Sophie would pay for a trip, then Alyna, then Sophie again, and on, and on, and on.

"I can't wait to see Prague," Lok commented. "it'd be nice to get away from this Suit infested city."

Dante turned around and put his rucksack with Cherit in it down. "Prague's a hundred times worse."

"Oh, come on!" and the teen sat down on the ground, with his head in his hands.

"Organization's headquarters are there." Alyna told. "Not something we can do anything about."

Lok stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom, before I have to go on the plane." And he left the pair of older Seekers alone.

"Do you really want to come?" Dante asked.

She nodded. "We're partners Dante, no matter if the Organization already suspects something's between us. It's all pure speculation, any spies within the Foundation will only read we're partnered Seekers, nothing more."

"How did you get that done? Even I couldn't convince Metz to change our documented status."

The auburn-haired woman smiled. "Some connections Teien has."

"Your cousin really knows how to make our lives easier." and the brunet kissed his wife on the cheek, simple and pretty innocent if anyone saw.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Adventures in Prague**

* * *

"Seekers, we have a mission." Dante announced as he put a holotome on the wooden table that was standing in the middle of the room. They were currently in a Foundation safehouse. "Show me the Prague central cemetery."

A turning hologram appeared, showing levels and layout of the cemetery.

"Cool!" Lok commented. "Is that… a hologram?"

"Something like that, but not quite. It does more than just being a hologram." Alyna touched the moving hologram and a card appeared. "It's also a mission planner, and we can analyze Titans with it to find out more about them."

Then the brunet continued. "Based on the gathered information by Sophie and Alyna, our goal is the tomb of the Wise Man of Prague, Jodis Lore. Mission: Golem of Prague, find the entrance to the tomb of Jodis Lore and find clues about the Golem." And he took the card from the holotome, putting it in his inside breast pocket. "After dark, we'll enter though here." pointing at the gate.

Lok smiled. "Now that's what I call interactive."

"The tomb won't be very large, so we'll have to rely on small and medium sized Titans like Solwing, Sabriel and Iron Monkey."

Then, the holotome started to say Solwing's statistics. _"Solwing, attack: 1, defense: 1, type: Krono-Titan Scout, size: Small, special ability: flight."_

_"Sabriel, attack: 3, defense: 2, type: Draco-Titan warrior, size: average, special ability: unaffected by injury."_

_"Iron Monkey, attack: 6, defense: 6, type: Yama-Titan warrior, size: medium, special ability: goes into a frenzy at seeing the enemy."_

Through the open window, Solwing entered to land upon Dante's left shoulder as Cherit spoke: "What if the Organization gets wind of our plans?"

The brunet looked at his long-time friend. "They already have."

"You're kidding, right?" asked Lok.

"Don't worry. This hotel belongs to the Huntik Foundation, we'll be safe for a while."

Still, the blonde had an unsettling feeling in his stomach, but he blamed the hunger. "Well, I'm gonna take a break and get something to eat."

"Don't overindulge. You can't fight on an over full stomach." the auburn-haired woman warned.

"I won't." Lok shouted back.

Alyna laid her right hand on Dante's right shoulder, which he took with his left hand. "I have that feeling that something's gonna happen soon. I think Lok's got it too."

"If the kid's got it, make sure he'll use it well."

"As if I'd do anything less!"

Sophie took a moment and sat back, just looking at the couple in front of her. Yeah, it fit: a book smart yet powerful person with a powerful person who knew to apply his powers. It was also their instincts that fit together well.

Then, Lok came running back from wherever he was, a Redcap right behind him. They heard the scream of the Redcap and wood broke as it came through the door.

Two more Redcaps appeared, one from under the bed and one from within the closet.

"Seriously, we get this again." the incident clearly didn't humor Alyna, who turned sour within seconds. _"Take care of this, Iron Monkey!"_

The fierce looking Yama-Titan with brown fur and red samurai armor, including the weird helmet with horns, appeared. The beast took no second to pounce and rip apart the Redcap chasing Lok.

Dante, on the other hand, jumped up and stuck the closet door in the Redcap's face and send a raypulse to the Redcap whose claws were clawing at Sophie's feet.

Two Suits entered the room, a blue ball in their hands.

_"Touchram!"_ Alyna said, sending a broad green line at the Suits. They flew back into the corridor, and a couple of doors were destroyed in the process, but at least those two were knocked out.

It was chaos, but that was usual in a Seeker fight.

Alyna's green eyes shone with fury. "You should pick a different target. Iron Monkey, get them!"

The Titan roared as it was given the order. It threw the bed away, ripped the 2nd Redcap in half, and then went over to the closet to throw that one out of the window.

"It seems I'm late to the party." a voice spoke up.

Their heads turned, finding a woman with black hair in green clothing.

"Time was on the invite." the older Casterwill spoke, walking up to the unknown woman who'd entered their hotel. "I don't think we know each other."

"We don't. I'm Zhalia Moon."

"Alyna Casterwill, nice to meet you."

The two shook hands once their names were spoken, very civil.

"Thanks for stopping by though, if we hadn't been able to do this ourselves, we would've needed your help." the green-eyed woman said. "If the question doesn't bother you: are you very busy with your own mission?"

"Not particularly." Zhalia replied. "What are you offering?"

"I just have the feeling we could use some extra help on the mission we're on."

"If it doesn't interfere with my current mission, I'll see what I can do."

Alyna smiled. "Good, we'll brief you about our goals and all." then she turned to the rest of the team and saw Dante's worried face. "Is there something that bothers you Dante?"

"The fact that the Organization was able to breach our hotel. Could there be spies within the Foundation?"

"Probably just as much as Foundation spies within the Organization." his wife replied.

Lok raised an eyebrow. "Does that even work?"

"There aren't many Foundation spies who get out of the Organization alive and sane. The Professor, who's their leader, uses a power of mind control on heads of state as well as his own people." the reddish haired woman told. "Spies are often discovered and either killed, or if they're useful in any way, turned on the Foundation with the mind control."

"Is it a power of some sort, that mind control?" the blonde teen asked.

Alyna shook her head. "There's no power in the book that can control minds, but there's a Titan that can."

Zhalia looked interested. "Then it seems you've cracked the code the Foundation needs."

"I'm a Casterwill, I'm supposed to know all about powers and Titans that affect Seekers and normal humans. The only thing that comes to my mind that could possibly do something like that, is Araknos, Legendary Titan of the Mind."

"Sounds spooky." said Lok.

The older Casterwill woman continued. "It's a Swara-Titan, most likely insect like in shape, and it's amulet is a ring like almost all Legendary Titans. Araknos, together with Bohemoth and Tao, you can call Overlos from the Amulet of Will, which is probably the Professor's goal."

"You seem very well versed in knowing your stuff." Zhalia commented.

"It's more or less simple logic, something it seems not all Seekers are capable off."

* * *

That one comment struck Zhalia pretty hard.

The Organization was all about world domination and doing everything to secure that happening. It was simple power hunger, there was no logic in that.

Alyna seemed to value logic and her gut feelings above anything personal. She was a different type of Seeker than all those she'd encountered before within the Foundation and Organization. Most Seekers let their personal opinion of things get in the way of a goal, relied too much upon others to make sense of things or were downright stupid.

This could become pretty interesting.

It wasn't until nightfall, and the team went down to the cemetery to search for Jodis Lore's tomb, that Zhalia spoke with Alyna again.

"I read the file the Foundation has on you." the black-haired female said.

"Did you?" she mused. "I don't suppose there's much of interesting things in there."

"I couldn't find much on the term 'partnered Seeker', I was wondering if you could explain that to me."

Green eyes looked at her. "I suppose I could. It's actually rather simple, married Seekers are not always compatible to do missions, neither are they of a similar power level. It's rare if such a match occurs, almost unique. With partnered Seekers, one or both of them are married but are not compatible with their spouse in power level or mission abilities"

"Sounds simple indeed. So, who of the two of you is married?"

"Me." Alyna simply replied, showing Zhalia her golden wedding ring, and they walked on.

The black-haired woman raised an eyebrow. She hadn't read anything about a spouse in the file. Maybe the guy wasn't even a Seeker, that could explain a non-mention, as well as the guy being way to important within the Foundation to be mentioned in the file of a field Seeker, no matter how powerful.

* * *

Lok and Sophie were sitting near the tombstone, flashlights on the inscription.

"It's just a normal inscription." the strawberry blonde commented.

"Lok, wasn't there something in the journal about the Golem?" Cherit asked, looking on from the head of the tombstone.

The blonde took the book out of bag. "I can't read much of it anymore, the page's ruined. But I think it says: 'blood of the Golem'?"

"But the Golem isn't of flesh and blood, it's made of clay." Sophie said, then grabbing a handful of clay lying next to the tomb and smearing it above the inscription of the headstone.

"Sophie, that's enough. That's not going to do anything." Zhalia commented.

Alyna laid a hand on her shoulder. "Just wait before you judge."

"The clay didn't bring the Golem to life, a word did!"

The small white Titan on the headstone nodded. "Aye, the word 'truth'."

"Sophie, do you know the symbol for truth?"

The other teen looked thoughtful. "It's a pretty difficult symbol, but I think it went something like this…" and she started writing with her right index finger.

As soon as the last dot was placed, the ground started shaking, and the stone on the ground lifted to reveal stairs.

They went down, Dante first, Alyna last.

The auburn-haired woman looked back, as if to see anyone was following them. She had this feeling that the Organization was right on their heels, and she didn't like to be right about this right now. Thus, on her way down, she dropped a couple of little balls, little sensors, connected to her holotome watch.

"I smell a trap." Zhalia said as they came into the next room.

"These bricks are made of two different types of clay!" Sophie called out.

"There must be some reason…" Lok started before Alyna passed them.

As she walked forward, she spoke: "We're running out of time, so let me explain. The golem was made of volcanic river clay, dries up light, thus only step on the light bricks if you don't want to be trapped."

Zhalia followed suit. "I take that was another take on logic?"

Dante was smiling from ear to ear, not caring if either Lok or Zhalia would see. He was a proud husband, even though he'd always known Alyna's potential.

There was a door on the other side, locked.

Alyna held her hand over the doorknob, her palm glowing blue. "Guess we'll need either strong venom or a good way to pick a lock."

As Zhalia was knelt down to inspect the lock, Alyna's watch started glowing blue.

Dante saw it too. "Did you use those sensors?" he asked.

The auburn-haired woman nodded.

"I'll take care of them." he said. "Stay here."

Lok looked at Alyna, seeing the worried look on her face. "Why do you look so worried?"

"It's something I can't help." the older woman replied. "It's just that bad luck always seems to follow Dante around."

"For how long have you two known each other actually?"

"Ever since we were kids." the older Casterwill replied, as she took an amulet from the pocket on her belt.

Lok thought it looked very much like the amulet on Dante's neck, though it had a more silver like glow.

Alyna looked back, to find Dante in Grier's headlock grip. "Damnit."

Sophie and Zhalia did think of sending raypulses at Defoe, but it hit the back of his Titan Kreutalk.

_"Peque, be quick!"_

A red skinned woman with a silver mask, black hair and green Aztec warrior clothing appeared. In her hand, she held a sliver dagger.

"Peque, open the door." the reddish haired woman commanded before turning to the others. "Just make sure I have enough time do make a copy of that key, no matter how." she didn't look back at them afterwards, she had her own goal to finish.

The study room behind the door was dusty and full of books, but a metal key was laying in the desk.

Alyna quickly made a copy of it with a copy spell, the copy being close to the real one but real and copy were distinguishable from each other. Then, she hid herself in the shadows, waiting for the inevitable.

It was only after Defoe and Grier left, that she left those shadows.

In the room, she found Dante lying on the ground and the three others stuck in some sort of mud.

Dante was only just opening his eyes, moaning from the pain.

Slowly, Alyna moved towards her husband to check up on him.

He was fine, just in pain due to an acid attack. His right hand was lying on the part of his chest where he got hit. _"Everfight."_ and his strength returned.

The auburn-haired woman gave him a stern look, warning him he shouldn't do stupid things like that.

The brunet's facial expression seemed to be an apologetic one, before moving on to the Suits that were standing there.

Neither of the three had heard or seen Dante get up or Alyna moving out of the shadows.

Dante grabbed two of them from behind, throwing them to a different corner each, while Alyna shot a raypulse at the last one, knocking him against a wall before one of the other two landed on him.

"That looked painful." Lok commented as Zhalia said: "Impressive."

"Never, ever, pull such a stunt again." Alyna said with a stern tone.

Dante just held up his hands in surrender.

"Uhm... we could use some help here!" Sophie called out as she was trying to stop a clay arm from choking her.

* * *

The study of Jodis Lore was filled with ancient books, notes from the Wise Man himself as well as some ancient artifacts.

"There's nothing here we can use, searching in here is useless." Zhalia commented.

Alyna gave her a look. "There's more to these notes than you think there are. Lore studied the Amulet of Will his entire life, devoted himself to it, it's possible that the locations of the Legendary Titans are somewhere in these as well as the true location of the Amulet of Will."

The 20-year old looked doubtful, but she didn't argue with the woman who was her senior in age and wisdom.

The oldest of the group looked into one of the books, humming as she read the pages.

"Anything useful?" her husband asked.

"There's something in here that can possibly be useful in the future." and Alyna closed it up. "I'll take this book with me and gather the notes. We have to get to the Golem before the Organization does. Dante, you'll call the shots this time, there's something else I have to do before joining a possible fight."

The brunet just nodded. "Seekers, let's go."

Zhalia found it weird that Alyna gave the orders between the two of them, as Dante seemed to be very much capable of leadership. It could just be their dynamic as a pair, Alyna was somewhat more dominant and more often had the last word, and Dante seemed to be okay with her taking the lead.

That was a point she had to further investigate.

* * *

"Do you two have any idea on what Alyna had to do before joining us?" Lok asked as he and Sophie were waiting on the roof with Cherit.

"Not a clue." Sophie replied. "Though I heard Dante saying she does this pretty often."

"It's just that it's all so mysterious, so secretive, and I don't understand why."

"As long as I have known her, she has been someone who follows her underbelly feeling." Cherit then started telling. "It is probably one of those days she has a feeling."

Some seconds later, Alyna landed right before them. "So, what's Dante come up with for a plan?"

"A Troyan horse Golem, he and Zhalia are inside." the strawberry blonde replied.

The green-eyed woman smiled. "Devious, don't think I'd have come up with it, but it's brilliant."

"Are you gonna tell us what you've been doing in the meantime?"

"When this is over, and the Golem is not in the hands of the Organization."

"Good enough for me." and the trio of humans and the small Titan went inside.

There, at the door to the attic of the building, they found a pair of Suits with a Redcap and a Mindrone.

Both teens invoked their fighter Titans, Sabriel for Sophie and Freelancer for Lok.

Sabriel took on the Redcap, Freelancer the Mindrone.

But since Lok was pretty much defenseless, two Augerfrosts were sent at him.

"Watch it!" Alyna yelled, pushing Lok out of the way, but got hit in the side by one in the process. The other spell hit the white stairs behind them.

There wasn't much of a wound, just a little bruise.

"I've got enough of this bullshit." and a reddish amulet with a blood red stone came from her pocket. _"Get it over with, Venomaster!"_

The Titan in question was reptilian, with the upper body of a snake, with long fangs and a whip made of bone.

The two Suits went pale and started shaking.

"Venomaster, go help Dante." and the Titan went through the doors as soon as Alyna said so. "I'll take care of these two. _Touchram_!"

* * *

Dante watched as the snake like Titan struck both Organization Titans with its bone whip.

It caught the two of guard and it gave him the chance to sneak over to the pile of books and an ancient brown painted vase.

"I know you're in here somewhere…" the brunet whispered, reaching out with his hand.

Soon enough, the vase lit up purple and reached for his hand. Then, the amulet of Metagolem started appearing in his hand. "Gotcha."

Also, as a cherry on top, Lok came flying in with the Gaia-Titan that once belonged to his father, kicking Defoe on the right side of his face.

At the door, Alyna and Sophie stood with Venomaster and Sabriel.

"If you know what's wise, you get away from us as soon as possible." the auburn-haired Casterwill said, arms crossed. She made it clear that angering her was a worse option then facing failure before the Professor.

"Sir, what are your orders?" Grier asked, his voice as monotone as it had been before and his face not betraying what emotion he felt at the moment.

"Retreat." Defoe said as he got up from the floor. "We're outnumbered."

"Sensible." and the two of them left, passing Alyna and Sophie on their way out.

Alyna's right hand glowed blue, just like the analyzing spell she'd used on the doorknob of Lore's study. But her hand was aimed at Defoe.

Sophie raised an eyebrow.

"I'll tell you guys once we're back home. Dante, you've got the Golem?"

The brunet held up the amulet, and his wife put two thumbs up.

The strawberry blonde had to laugh at that.

* * *

Back in Venice, the team got well deserved rest from their mission in Prague.

Dante was sleeping on the couch, Sophie was resting on her bed with some of the books Alyna had given her on the Casterwill family, and Zhalia was putting her stuff away in her new room.

Lok found Alyna on the 3rd floor balcony, just looking out over Venice.

"So, what was it all about the secrecy back in Prague?"

The Casterwill woman looked back at him. "There's just something about Defoe that just seems familiar, too familiar. I had to make sure some information I had corresponded with Defoe's appearance in the Seeker world."

The blonde too leaned on the wooden railing. "And? Does it?"

"Perfectly, too perfect to be a mere coincidence." green eyes locked with blue. "Do you want to hear my entire story? Even if it seems a bit too crazy?"

The teen nodded. "I really want to know."

"I'll suppose I should start at the beginning." Alyna stated. "About five years ago, Dante's brother Damiano went undercover in the Organization as a simple Suit. But I guess that the superiors saw Damiano had more power than a normal Suit, so they urged him to go see the Professor. Damiano refused for over half a year, but they forced him. His last message said that he had to see the Professor."

Lok's eyes went wide.

"Damiano was presumed dead after we didn't hear from him six months later, almost no one survives an encounter with the Professor and if they live their minds are more often controlled through that Titan I told you guys about." the reddish haired woman continued. "Defoe appeared three years ago, months after Damiano was declared dead. I already thought back then there was something up, since Defoe was so bitter about us though he never met us. Do you understand where I'm going with this?"

"Uh… the Professor turned him against you? But Defoe doesn't look like Dante at all!"

The older Casterwill smiled. "That threw me off too, but then I remembered that there's black market plastic surgery, as well as glamour spells." and she showed him two photos. one was of Defoe right now, the other was of Damiano made before his undercover operation.

Lok too saw the similarities. "Does Dante already know?"

"Well, I've hinted at it, but he's dismissed it every time he got the hint."

The blonde sighed at that. "Any idea yet how to get the guy out of the mind control?"

"There's one Titan that can break a mind spell, which too is a Legendary Titan." Alyna told. "I don't know whether we'll be able to find it, but if we do, I'll know exactly what to do."

"I hope you can do it. Knowing a friend is alive but doesn't remember you, I imagine, is pretty tough."

"It is. Grief about a dead person is easier to deal with."


End file.
